Machine for and method of building heels



Oct. 22, 1929. F, H KINS 1,732,362

MACHINE FOR AND METHOD OF BUILDING HEELS Filed March 1, 1928 17v VE/V roe:

Patented Got. 22, 1929 umme STATES PATENT omen FRED HAWKINS, on EVERETT, MAssAoHUsET'iis MACHINE roe AND Memo]: or Bememe nnnts Application filed March 1, 1923. Serial nogzssnsi.

This invention relates to the art of heel building, and 1s directed to the provision of a novel apparatus for and method of building \thole lift heels and nailing the lifts of each according to the method. disclosed in these patents, pasted lifts are assembled to form a heel blank, a combined heel former and sep arator such as shown in the Parks patent above referred to is placed against the heel blank, a new heel blank is formed, and the process continued, and with each formation of a heel blank, said blank and its separator are forced into a heel log container which is of a size to offer-1 frictional resistance to the column of heel blanks and alternating formthe end of the column is discharged from the container, the lifts will have been firmly pressed together and the paste Will have had time to set. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the combined heel formers and separators is provided with a head which Works in a groove in a race-Way, one partof Which forms the upper Wall of the heel log container, so that the series of formers and separators are continuously moved over the race-Way in a manner to be successively returned to the front of the ma chine, Where they may be again employed to be interposed between the heel blanks as they are formed.

The'Mitchell & Parks machines of the type referred to have been, and are being, extensively used and are highly satisfactory, The

only objection to this machine is the large is required for each different size, height, wedgeand taper of heel, thus necessitating a very large assortment of formers in rder to" enable the machine to handle a completeline of tapered heels. These formers are necessary not only for providing proper pressme upon the heels as they go through the heel log container, but also for holding the lifts in each heel in proper position While the paste is setting.

According to my invention, I provide mechanism for inserting nail into the assembled heel blanks simultaneously with the movement of the machine which forces the heel blank into the heel long container, and by this" means, securely anchor the lifts in a fixed position while the paste is still moist; i. e. before ithas had time to set. By thus permanently securing the lifts together and in proper position at the beginning of the assageoif the heel blank through the heel log container, the only function necessary to be performed by the former plates is to equalize the Wedge in the heel. Since it is only necessary for the plates to conform to three or four different Wedges, and since they do not have to conform to different heights and shapes of heels, it will be seen that the nu1nber of complete sets of plates required in the practice of my invention is greatly reduced over What would be required in practicing the Mitchell-Parks 1 method as disclosed in the foregoing patents. In other Words, the forming function of the plateis of relatively little importance,inasmuch as it becomes no longer necessary for the plate to engage the rounded surface o-f the heel blank to prevent the lifts from moving out of position.

The only other comparable method in extensive use Within my knowledge is that knoivn as the Grover method, in which the lifts, pasted on both sides, are assembled horizontally in a mold, and a nail is driven into the heel through a slot in the bottom of the mold. Before the nail can be driven, the operator swings an arm over the heel and forces down an iron block which holds the heel down While the nail is being driven up wa-rtlithrough it: The operator then swings thearin back toits positiomtakes the heel out of the mold, and puts it on a board, which is provided with slopes to equalize the wedge in the heels. When a number of heels have been placed on this board, they are put under a jack-press and held under pressure for several hours to allow the paste to set.

It will be seen that considerable time is required for swinging the arm over the heel and back to its former position, for removing the heel fromthe mold, and for putting the heels into the jack-press.

My improved method eliminates the disadvantagesof the Grover method, since it provides for driving the nail into the heel as the heel is being forced automatically into the heel log container, none of the operators time being lost on account of the nail-driving operation, or in the removal of the heel from the building table.

Having thus outlined the purposes and advantages of my invention, I will now proceed to describe the same in detail, referring to the accompanying drawing, in Wl1lCl1 r Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a 1 Mitchell & Parks heel building machine equipped with my nail-driving mechanism;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view, partly 111 section and partly in side elevation, of the front,

or left-hand, end portion of the machine "shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2, omitting the race-way and showing the nail-driver in its retracted position;

Figure 4 is a similar View showing the nail-driver in its advanced position and illustrating a nail driven thereby into a heel blank;

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3 directly in front of the supporting block against which the heel blanks are built up to show the provision of two nail-holding apertures, or guides, ineither of which a nail to be driven may be. placed according to the size of the heel blank to be nailed, the apertures being arra'nged'in a vertical plane for use when making whole-lift heels; and

Figure 6 is a similar view with the two nail-holding apertures or guides arranged in a horizontal plane .for. use when making pieced lift heels. 7

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the frameof themachine the top portion of which is inclined forwardly J as shown and has supported thereon a combined heel-log container and race'avay. The race-way is indicated at 2 and comprises two parallel bars having rounded connections at either end and provided with a .continuous slot 3 (Fig. 2) in which are slidably mounted the heads 4 of a set of plates 5. In the present instance, these plates, so far asfunction is concerned, are properly only equalizing plates; that is to say, the'incline of the face of tlie'end portion 6 thereof being such as to compensate for the wedge of the particular type of heel being produced. Below the race way 2 and parallel with the lower side thereof is a bed-plate 7 which co-operates with the lower member 8 of the race-way to provide the heel-log container. The plate 7 is what is known in the art as a breast plate, that is to say, the breasts of the heels rest upon it as they pass through the container.

In operation, as the column composed of heel blanks and equalizing plates is forced through the heel log container, each heel blank, in turn, at the forward end of the column will fall away while the plate will continue around the raceway and slide down the upper side thereof, all as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The driven part of the machine comprises a shaft 9 driven by a pulley l0 and having mounted thereon an eccentric ll. Encircling the eccentric 11 is a strap 12 hav ing a head 13 in which is mounted one end of an actuating rod 14 provided on its upper side near its lower end with a recess 15 affording a shoulder 16. The actuating rod 14 rests at its lower side on a roller 17 mounted intermediate the ends of a lever 18 which is pivoted at its lower end, as indicated at 19, 011 the frame of the machine. Pivotally mounted at 20 on the lever 18 above the actuating bar 1% is a dog 21 the lower or free end of which is normally held in contact with the upper side of the bar 14 by means of a leaf spring 22. As shown by Fig. 1, in the normal position of the parts, the free end of the dog 21 extends beyond the shoulder 16 on the actuating bar when the latter is in its extreme inward position, or that shown in the figure. The lever 18 is moved outwardly or away from the operator to bring the dog 21 to a position where its free end will fall into the recess 15 and be engaged by the shoulder 16 on actuating rod 14 through the medium of a treadle 23 pivoted at its upper end at 2 1 on the frame, to which is pivotally connected one end of a connecting rod 25, the other end of which has a slotted engagement 26 with a pin 27 011 the lever 18 at any suitable point above its pivot 19. The operator, by placing his foot on the treadle 23, pushes it outward, causing the connecting rod to move the upper end of the lever 18 in the same direction, whereby the free end of the dog 21 will be moved over and fall intothe recess 15, and in the next outward movementof the actuating bar 1% caused by the rotation of eccentric 11, the shoulder 16 on the actuating rod will engage the free end of the dog and move the upper end of the lever 18 to its extreme outward position. In this movement the assembled lifts will be forced against the previously formed column of heel blanks in the heel log container, a nail will be driven through the assembled lifts, and said lifts, together with the column of lifts in the container, will be bed,

advanced a: given distance therein. These operations result from the mechanisms actuated by the lever 18 which will now be described. 1

The numeral 28* indicates a head which is slidably mounted on a rear extension of the breast plate, 7, and is equipped with side jaws 29 for properly positioning the lifts, and at its forward end, with a support ing block 30. Mounted in the supporting block to have its forward end lie flush with the forward face of said block is a circular nail-holder and guide 31 which, as shown more particularly in Fig. 5, is provided with two apertures 32, 33 extending longitudinally thereof and one or the other of which is adapted to receive the nail to be driven into the assembled lifts or heel blank. Such a nail is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and indicated by the numeral 34:. The nailholder 31 is held in position in the supporting block by means of a set screw 35 (Fig. As shown by Fig. 5, the aperture 32 is located directly over the aperture and this arrangement for the purpose of permitting the operator to use one or the other of said apertures for receiving the nail to be driven, according to the size of the heel being made, so asto enable the nail to be driven approximately centrally through the heel. The he: d 28 at the rear of the supporting block 31) is provided on either side with apertured lugs 36 in which are mounted bearings for receiving the upper ends of a yoke member 37 (Fig 5") which, at its lower side, has an arm 38 projecting forwardly therefrom and pivotally secured at its forward end, as indicated at 39, to the upper end of the lever 18. it will thus be seen that as the upper end of the lever 18 is moved forward by the action of the rod 14, the sliding head 28 will be moved forward or outwardly over the breast plate 7 so that the lifts assembled against the supporting block 30 will be forced into engagement with the separator plate 5 placed on the heel blank previously formed, as clearly shown in Fig i its previously indicated, it is the main purpose of my invention to drivea nail into the assembled lifts concurrently with the advance thereof under the action of the sliding head, as above described. To this end, I provide the following mechanism Mounted on the sliding head 28 is metal block 10 which is adapted to have a sliding lit in a groove 41 formed on the upper side of said head. Mounted at one end in the block are two metal rods 41, 1:2,respectively (Fig. 2) which are positioned to work in the apertures 32, 33 of the nail-holder 81, and which, with the block 40, constitutes a naildriver. The block 40 is transversely grooved on its upper side, as indicated at 4:3 in Figs. 3 and i, and in which groove works an antifriction roller 44$ mounted on the inner end and underside of anarm l5. which is pivotally mounted about centrally of its length at 46 on the sliding head 28. The outer end of the arm 4L5 is'provided on its underside with an anti-friction roller 47' which moves between and is adapted toengage one or the other of two fixed stops 48, 49, respectively, adjustably secured on the side of the frame of the machine. In the position. of the parts just'described shown in Fig. 3, the sliding head-28 has been moved to the limit of its rear or retracted position, the roller l? has on gagcd the stop 48 prior tothe termination of this movement, and the block 40 has thereby been moved to the rear to withdraw the naildrivers 41 42 from the apertures 32, Theends of the nail-drivers, however, do not leave said apertures but remain supported in the rear portions thereof.

Assuming, now, a heelblank to have been assembled: on the breast plate 7 between the jaws 29, as shown in Fig. 4, t-he operator places his foot on treadle 23 and pushes it outwardly, thereby moving the new heel blank toward the separator plate of the preceding. heel blank in the container and permitting the shoulder 16 on the bar i l to engage the dog 21 in the manner previously described. As the sliding head 28 is now moved'outwardly, the whole column of lifts in the heel logcontaincr must be moved and such movement is resisted by frictional engagement of the column with the container. The lifts on the new heel blank are thus pressed firmly together and concurrently with this operation, the roller 47 wil be brought into engagement with the stop 49, as shown in Fig. l, thereby causing the block 40 carrying the nail-driver to be advanced at a greater rate of speed than the head 28, which results in a nail, which has been pre viously inserted in: one or the other of the apertures 82,38, being forced into the assembled lifts at about the time the sliding head reaches the limit of its outward movement. In the return movement of the sliding head, which is effected by gravity, the roller 17 will engage the stop 48 and cause the retram tion of the nail-driver, as previously described.

To provide for the release of the dog 21 from the shoulder 16 in the inward movement of the actuating bar 14, I provide the following mechanismi i Pivotally mounted on the: pivot 20 of the dog 21 is a short arm 50which is normally held against a fixed stop 51 on the frame by the other side of leaf spring 22 which, to this end, engages a pin 52 on the arm 50. The outer end of the arm 50 is provided with an inclined lug 53 which normally rests against the underside of the stop 51. The connection between the arm 50 and dog 21 at thepivot is such as to allow only a slight independent movement of one relative to the other;

ltli) ill) When the upper end of lever 18 is moved in the forward direction, the lug 53 will be moved from under stop 51, and the spring 22 will throw the inner end of said arm with said lug upward to the limit of its movement. In the return movement of the lever 18, the bottom side of lug 53 will ride over stop 51 and raise the inner end of arm 50 which thereby causes the inner end of dog 21 to be raised out of the slot 16 or to the position shown in Fig. 1. This mechanism is de; scribed in the interest of a clear understanding of the operation of the machine, but it forms no part of the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, the short arm 54 connected at one end to the lever 18, the rod 55, and a member 56 actuated thereby, form parts of mechanism for insuring the fall over the rounded forward end of the race-way of only one separator plate at a time,-but as this mechanism forms no part of the present invention, it need not be more particularly described.

;So far as the method involved in my invention is concerned, it is characterized by the novel steps of inserting a nail into the assembled lifts concurrently with the movement of the-head toward the pressure container, and completing the driving of the nail simultaneously with the entrance of the heel-blank into the pressure container and into contact with the column of heel-blanks therein, so

' that suflicient resistance is offered to the movement of thenew heel-blank to permit the nail to be driven through the lifts thereof.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6, the nail-holding apertures indicated by 32 and 33 are arranged in a horizontal plane, and in this arrangementa nail is inserted in each of the apertures and when driven into the heelblank, are so positioned that they will enter the same. on either side of the dividing line between the two pieces of the lift.

.To enable either the horizontally or vertically disposed apertures to be employed, the block 40 can either beprovided with four drivers, two of which are vertically disposed to enter the apertures 32 and 33 and the other two horizontally disposed to enter the apertures 32 and 33, or else interchangeable naildrivers the one )rovided with two verticall disposed drivers and theother with two horizontally disposed drivers, could be employed. In the drawings, it is deemed suflicient to a show one arrangement of nail-drivers, that matter which will be well understood by those Y skilled in the. art.

1. In a machine for building heels, in combination with a heel-log container, a sliding head against which the lifts for the heels are assembled and by the movement of which the assembled lifts are forced into the container, a nail-holder carried by the head, a naildriver co-operating therewith, means for moving said head toward the container, and automatic means for operating the n ail-d river simultaneously with the movement of the head, whereby to drive a nail into the asi'embled lifts while the head is still in contact therewith.

2. In a machine for building heels, in combination with a heel-log container, a sliding head against which the lifts for the heels are assembled and by the movement of which the assembled lifts are forced into the container, a nailholder carried by the head, a nail-driver co-operating therewith, means for moving said head toward the container, and means for advancing the nail-driver simul taneously with the movement of the head but at a greater rate of speed, whereby to drive a nail into the assembled lifts while the head is still in contact therewith.

3. In a machine for building heels, in combination with a heel-log container, a sliding head against which the lifts for the heels are assembled and by the movement of which the assembled lifts are forced into the container, at nail-holder carried by the head, a nail-driver slidably mounted on said head and co-operating with the nail-holder, means for moving said head toward the container, and means for advancing the nail-driver over the head simultaneously with the movement of the head but at a greater rate of speed, whereby to drive a nail into the assembled lifts while the head is still in contact therewith.

4. In a machine for building heels, in combination with a heel-log container, at sliding head against which the lifts for the heels are assembled and by the movement of which the assembled lifts are forced into the container, a nail-holder carried by the head and having a plurality of nail-apertures therein, a nail-driver cooperating with said nailholder and comprising a plurality of driving members positioned in said apertures, means for moving said head toward the container, and automatic means for operating the naildriver simultaneously with the movement of the head, whereby nails inserted in said apertures will be driven into the assembled lifts while the head is still in contact therewith.

5. In a machine for building heels, in combination with a heel-log container, a sliding head against which the lifts for the heels are assembled and by the movement of which the assembled lifts are forced into the container, a nail-holder carried by the head and having a plurality of nail-apertures therein, a nail-driver mounted to slide longitudinally of the head and comprising a plurality of driving members positioned in said apertures, means for moving said head toward the container, and automatic means for causing the advance of the nail-driver simultaneously with the movement of the head but at a greater rate of speed, whereby to drive a nail positioned in one or the other of said apertures into the assembled lifts while the head is still in contact therewith.

6. In a machine for building heels, in combination with a heel-log container, a sliding head against which the lifts for the heels are assembled and by the movement of which the assembled lifts are forced into the container, :1 nail-holder carried by the head, a nail-driver siidably mounted on said head and co-operating with said nail-holder, an arm pivotally mounted on said head and having one end operatively engaging said nail-driver and he other end free, means for effecting a movement of said head toward the container and its return to its initial position, and a pair of stops mounted on the machine and between and into engagement with which the free end of said arm is moved, whereby in the forward movement of the head one of said stops will be engaged by the free end of said arm, to cause the nail-driver to be advanced at a greater rate of speed than the head and thus drive the nail into the assembled lifts while the head is in contact therewith, and whereby in the return movement of the head the other stop will be engaged by the free end of said arm and return the nail-driver to its initial position.

7. The method of building heels, which consists in assembling a series of pasted lifts to form a heel-blank, forcing the heel-blank into a zone of frictional resistance, and simultaneously with the entrance of the heelblank into said zone inserting a nail therein.

8. The method of building heels, which consists in assembling a series of pasted lifts to form a heel-blank, advancing the heelblank toward and forcing it into and through a zone of frictional resistance, and during the movement of the heel-blank initiating the driving of a nail therein and completing such operation simultaneously with the entrance of the heel-blank into said zone of frictional resistance.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

FRED HAWKINS. 

